Sol Rio De Luna Y Mares

We spent a lovely week here. The beach was clear and felt private, with access for only two resorts. I did beach yoga every morning, with a special thank you to my great instructors Geidy and Carlos. The entertainment team was friendly, got us involved in daytime activities, and put on good evening shows. Everyone on staff was warm and welcoming. Yusimi was a great pool bartender, and Grechel, Yenet, Yilena, Keyla and Yailiana were lovely servers. I also had a massage and haircut, which made for a relaxing little spa day. Food was satisfactory, with plenty of choices, and there was always lots of alcohol.

I was really impressed by how kind the staff were. The Cuban people have beautiful souls. The drinks were great, and the food was good, with chicken, beef, lamb, pork and fish served. Fruit was the one thing missing. The beach was lovely and clean, and I met lots of people who’d returned to this resort many times. It’s a wonderful, clean, well-kept place with beautiful rooms. We had one with direct access to the ocean. A small suggestion: bring little gifts for hotel staff or other Cuban people, since many things are unavailable or hard to find in Cuba. Have a great vacation!

This is my second trip here this winter, and I love this resort. The room was great, there was lots of food, and we had no power issues. The staff are what make it special. I enjoyed playing dominoes with Dixon from entertainment and Geidy, the dance instructor. Maria, our chambermaid, is a special person. I recommend SRLM for a great vacation.

This was our seventh visit to Sol Luna y Mares, but the most disappointing by far. I don’t think we’ll return anytime soon unless things improve. The beach was gorgeous as usual. Some seaweed early on was cleared after a few days, though there was noticeably more rubbish, including paper cups and plastic. The grounds and rooms were beautiful, clean and well cared for. We had good water pressure and hot and cold water every day except the last, when it was off for a few hours. Towels were replaced daily. There was ice cream, and it was delicious. Food had deteriorated a lot since eight months earlier. There was no meat or fish at the grill, only mussels and octopus. No fruit for the first few days, then just apples and pears. Fresh vegetables were absent until lettuce and cucumbers showed up near the end. Early on there were a few meats, chicken, beef and lamb, but by the end only boiled, bony chicken pieces. Meals were essentially the same each day. Eggs at breakfast, sweet potatoes, fries, beans, rice, pasta, eggplant, sometimes pumpkin, cold cuts and cheese were regular options, though cheese disappeared for the final two days. We didn’t go hungry. Service was uneven. The longtime staff were excellent, while newer staff were inconsistent; even their coffee was watered down. Entertainment was almost nonexistent apart from a Cuban band we loved. The opera singers were great one night, but the volume was so unbearable we had to run from the lobby to protect our hearing. We missed the return guest party at playa Pesquero because the resort printer was broken. They called guests in their rooms during the day, but missed us and, I’m sure, some others. They need a better way to let people know. Another thing that bothered us was the number of Russian guests from russia, perhaps 60%. They were very loud, spoke and complained to staff in Russian, and expected them to understand.